Metro-North returns to regular service

Bill Cummingsand Frank Juliano

Updated 11:20 pm, Monday, October 7, 2013

Metro-North trains between New Haven and New York were back on track Monday, helping to ease the rush-hour crunch on area roads during a blustery, stormy day in southwestern Connecticut.

The railroad said the line was operating at full capacity after weekend tests of a new electrical substation in Mount Vernon, N.Y., proved successful.

Passengers said service was good, but the commutes weren't necessarily perfect.

"Monday morning. Metro-North is back, but I forgot my coffee,'' Kristin Sevick tweeted from her train.

The repairs to restore service were finished ahead of schedule. When the outage first happened Sept. 25, rail authorities had projected that delays would last until mid-October.

The speedy repairs pleased even people who don't rely on the trains to get to work.

"Metro-North is back," one person from New York tweeted. "I might have to make a visit to Connecticut."

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to issue refunds to ticket holders who were unable to get train service during the prolonged outage, although officials are still figuring out exactly how it will get customers money or credit. Riders are advised to keep their tickets because they will be necessary for refunds.

Customers will be able to apply for refunds until March 31, 2014, and no processing fee will be charged. Information about refunds can be found on the MTA website (http://new.mta.info) or by calling 877-690-5114.

On Monday, railroad officials said they were happy to have trains running normally.

"We are hoping for a completely uninteresting and boring commute Monday on the New Haven Line," said spokeswoman Marjorie Anders. "Everything is back to where it was. We are grateful service is back to normal."

A commuting nightmare began nearly two weeks ago when a Con Edison feeder cable at the Mount Vernon substation failed in the early morning hours of Sept. 25. An eight-mile stretch of Metro-North's tracks lost electricity and forced the railroad to use diesel trains along the crippled line.

Some riders who were fed up with the reduced service took to the roads, creating traffic jams that crawled along for miles on Interstate 95 and the Merritt Parkway.

On Monday, those delays were not as severe, despite heavy winds and rain that reduced visibility and made roads slicker. The railroad and Con Edison are still investigating how the outage happened. One explanation from the utility company is that a feeder cable might have been accidentally frozen by crews working on another line.

The outage and limited service rankled politicians and commuters in Connecticut and New York. Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy was particularly vocal in his criticism of Metro-North's maintenance programs and the railroad's ability to handle sudden problems.

"I'm happy for the thousands of Connecticut commuters that service will be back to normal on Monday," Malloy said in a statement. "I hope this outage serves as a wake-up call to both Con Ed and the (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) when it comes to maintenance."